Two years ago, the mortgage business nearly drowned in the torrent of the financial meltdown. The end seemed near. “We saw our (credit) conduits drying up,” said Barbara Pattee, president of Springs Mortgage Inc. “We had built up a niche of banks to do business with that went out of business.” It was 2008, and… Continue Reading Mortgage business beginning to show signs of new life

Mortgage rates in Colorado dropped to 4.9 percent yesterday and are likey to keep falling today, say analysts from Zillow Mortgage Marketplace. Local rates for 30-year-fixed mortgages topped 5.3 percent in early August and have been heading more or less downward ever since, according to Zillow data. Yesterday’s statewide average was slightly below the national… Continue Reading Colorado mortgage rates dip to 4.9%

WASHINGTON (AP) – Lenders are ramping up efforts to avoid home foreclosures, but a report by bank regulators says more than half of borrowers who get help fall behind again. More than 50 percent of homeowners with loans modified in the first half of last year had missed at least two months of payments a… Continue Reading Homeowners in financial trouble often redefault

The Statewide Grand Jury has indicted Ernie Colter on three counts of theft and one count of forgery for his role in fraudulently obtaining a loan for a client and then stealing some proceeds from a related real estate transaction. According to the indictment, Colter, acting as the originating broker for a real estate transaction,… Continue Reading Indictment obtained in mortgage fraud, theft case

A record 12 percent of homeowners with a mortgage are behind on their payments or in foreclosure as the housing crisis spreads to borrowers with good credit. And the wave of foreclosures isn’t expected to crest until the end of next year, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday. The foreclosure rate on prime fixed-rate loans… Continue Reading Mortgage delinquincies hit record high

Home loan borrowers are cashing in on historically low mortgage interest rates as a refinancing boom gains momentum. National mortgage refinance statistics jumped again for the last week in March – up 3 percent from a week earlier and up 68.8 percent for the week ending March 27, on a year-over-year basis. That news from… Continue Reading Spring refinancing activity on the rise

Seniors are queuing up at banks and credit unions around the country to apply for reverse mortgages on their homes. There has been a “significant uptick” in applications, said Eric Bachman, founder and CEO of Golden Gateway Financial. “Our volumes are double.” The surge began several months ago. The FHA Modernization Act — which raised… Continue Reading Running rapidly in reverse

Colorado had the 10th-highest level of residential mortgage fraud during 2008, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The No. 10 spot is up from the state’s 2007 ranking of No. 17. The state was No. 8 on the list during 2006, No. 6 in 2005 and No. 3 in 2004. Rhode Island was No. 1… Continue Reading Colorado ranks 10th in nation for mortgage fraud

Projections for U.S. home financing this year have increased $400 billion. An increase in conventional refinances is responsible for the bright outlook, according to www.MortgageDaily.com. First-quarter residential originations are expected to reach $430 billion, Freddie Mac said in its March Economic and Housing Market Outlook. Estimated U.S. production is 46 percent higher than estimated fourth-quarter… Continue Reading Refinances boost loan origination projections